Sohrabuddin's brother Rubabuddin Sheikh protested the court decision and said the family would challenge the Special CBI Court's verdict

Friday December 21, 2018 3:11 PM, ummid.com News Network

[Fighting For Justice: Sohrabuddin's brother Rubabuddin Sheikh (second from left) protested the court decision and said the family would challenge the Special CBI Court's verdict. (File photo)]

Mumbai: A Special CBI Court in Mumbai Friday acquitted all 22 accused arrested in the alleged fake encounter killing of Sohrabuddin and his friend Tulsiram Prajapati and the alleged murder of the former's wife Kausar Bi.

Special Judge S J Sharma said the prosecution had not been able to satisfactorily prove that the accused were guilty of conspiracy, murder and other charges. He said that while the main foundation of the prosecution were key eyewitnesses, they turned hostile.

"I am helpless," the judge said, referring to the hostile witnesses and what he called insufficient evidence.

Among the accused were top police officers of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. The alleged encounter killings took place in 2005 when Prime Minister Modi was chief minister of Gujarat. BJP chief Amit Shah was also one of the accused in the case. He however was discharged along with 16 others in December 2014.

"The government machinery and prosecution put in a "lot of effort" and brought in 210 witnesses. It is no fault of the prosecutor if witnesses don't speak," he said.

Sohrabuddin, Kausar Bi and Prajapati were on November 22, 2005 intercepted by a police team in a luxury bus while returning to Sangli from Hyderabad and were taken into custody. Shaikh and his wife were taken in one vehicle, Prajapati in another.

Later, Sohrabuddin Shaikh and Kausar Bi were kept in a farm house near Ahmedabad. Prajapati was sent to Udaipur where he was lodged in a prison to face trial. Sohrabuddin Shaikh was killed in an alleged fake encounter on November 26, 2005, allegedly by a joint team comprising Gujarat and Rajasthan police. His wife Kausar Bi was also allegedly killed by police three days later. Her body was burnt and disposed of.

On December 27, 2006, Prajapati was taken from the Udaipur central prison by a team comprising Rajasthan and Gujarat police and was allegedly killed in an encounter near Sarhad Chapri on Gujarat-Rajasthan border.

Meanwhile, Sohrabuddin's brother Rubabuddin Sheikh protested the court decision and said the family would challenge the Special CBI Court's verdict.